No. 3 Tech Opens Big 12 Championship Against OSU

Wednesday, May 24

Oklahoma City, Okla.

12:30 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Oklahoma State

No. 3 Tech Opens Big 12 Championship Against OSU

May 23, 2017 | Baseball

Texas Tech Notes 2017 Baseball Bracket Live Stats Watch Live (FOX Sports Go)

The Red Raiders will take on the Cowboys at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark

OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 3 Texas Tech baseball team begins the 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Wednesday, May 24, against Oklahoma State at 12:30 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Every game of the tournament will air live on the FOX Sports family of networks, with Wednesday's contest on FCS & FSSW+. As always, fans can listen to the series on the Texas Tech Sports Network on 97.3 FM and the TuneIn app, while live stats will be available via Big12Sports.com.

The Red Raiders (42-13, 16-8) and the Cowboys (26-25, 8-14) have met only once in the Big 12 tournament, doing so in the first year of the championship. The two squared off in the inaugural tourney in 1997, as Tech picked up a thrilling 7-6 victory in an elimination game to earn a spot in the title game.

That year, Tech dropped a slugfest against Oklahoma, 19-17, in the championship game, but turned around and won the tournament in 1998 with a 14-7 victory over Texas A&M. It is the only time the Red Raiders have won tournament crown. It was also the last time Tech has played in the championship game.

Tech may only have one tournament title, but have secured five regular season crowns, snatching the championship last weekend after a sweep of Kansas at Rip Griffin Park. The victory marked the second-straight year the Red Raiders have brought home the title, putting together a 16-8 conference mark this season to do so.

In the season series against the Cowboys, Oklahoma State picked up wins in the first and third games of the set at 12-10 and 3-1. Tech motored to an 8-2 victory in the Saturday contest. Despite the loss in the season set, the last five games are still split down the middle at 5-5. Overall, OSU leads the all-time series at 40-32.

Since the two teams last met, Oklahoma State has put together a 5-10 mark to move to 26-25 overall this season. Garrett McCain leads the Pokes on offense with a .395 batting average, which includes 79 hits, 35 RBI and 50 runs scored. Garrett Benge is the only other Cowboy hitter above .300, who has 60 hits and a team-high 51 RBI. As a unit, OSU's offense is hitting .265.

Out of the home dugout, Tech rolls into OKC with a .308 batting average, posting 10 or more hits in four of the last five games, including each of the last three. Seven Red Raiders are hitting above .300 this season, as freshman outfielder Grant Little holds the top spot at .351. Senior infielder Hunter Hargrove leads the team in hits with 75, while junior infielder paces the squad with 55 RBI and freshman infielder Josh Jung rounds out the offensive leaders with 53 runs scored.

Wednesday will also mark the return of sophomore right-handed pitcher Davis Martin, who is expected to get the start for the first time since March 24. Before being sidelined, Martin was 4-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 29 strikeouts.

It's been a busy week for the scarlet & black trophy case, as a plethora of awards were announced for the Red Raiders. On Monday, Little and sophomore RHP Ryan Shetter were named Big 12 Player & Pitcher of the Week, respectively. A day later, Tech added a total of 12 accolades between individual honors and All-Big 12 winners.

Hargrove picked up Big 12 Player of the Year, giving Tech back-to-back winners, the first since 2010-11. It was also the first time since 2006-07 two student-athletes playing the same position took home the honor in consecutive years. Sophomore lefty Steven Gingery was awarded Pitcher of the Year, the first ever in the program's history, while Jung earned Freshman of the Year.

Gingery and Hargrove were also named to the All-Big 12 First Team, along with Garcia and sophomore outfielder Cody Farhat. Jung was slotted to the second team and the All-Freshman squad, junior left-hander Parker Mushinski earned Honorable Mention accolades and catcher Michael Berglund and Little found their way onto the All-Freshman team.

With the sweep of Kansas and the clinch of the Big 12 regular season title, the Red Raiders moved up in all six polls. Once again, four publications are on the same wavelength, placing Tech at No. 3 in their respective rankings. The National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper have the Red Raiders at fourth and sixth, respectively.

Tech will either play at 9 a.m. or 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 25, against either West Virginia or Baylor, depending on the outcomes of both contests on Wednesday.